Emotional Intelligence Profile and Employee Attitude

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to identify emotional intelligence (EI) profiles according to the sub-factors of the ability EI model, namely, self-emotional appraisal, others' emotional appraisal, regulation of emotion, and use of emotion. In addition, this study aims to reveal whether there is a difference in job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention depending on the profile. Research design, data, and methodology - For the study, 536 survey responses were analyzed using SPSS 22 and MPlus 8.4. Result - The analysis identified four EI profiles. These were 1) middle-low generalized EI (all sub-factors of EI were slightly lower than the average level), 2) middle-high generalized EI (all sub-factors of EI were slightly higher than the average), 3) low generalized EI (all EI sub-factors were much lower than the average), and 4) high generalized EI (all EI sub-factors were much higher than average). Furthermore, significant differences were found in job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention according to each profile. Conclusion - This study expands the EI theory by revealing the profile of EI. In addition, this study investigated the impact of EI profile on job satisfaction, affective commitment, and turnover intention.